Michael Owen was immediately shot down for his comment made on BT Sport after Inter Milan reached the Champions League final.
Inter beat rivals AC Milan 3-0 on aggregate, with Lautaro Martinez' second leg strike adding to goals in the first leg from Edin Dzeko and Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
They will now meet the winner of Manchester City and Real Madrid in the final in Istanbul on 10 June but 2001 Ballon d'Or winner Owen irked his former England colleagues Steven Gerrard and Rio Ferdinand when he claimed not a single Inter player would get into either of the semi-finalists' sides.
Owen said: "I wouldn't put one of their players, I think, into the Man City team, into the Real Madrid team - so they're going to have to do something."
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But straight away Gerrard chimed in and was having none of it, making a claim for Nerazzurri goalkeeper Andre Onana.
He commented: "What about the keeper? He's very similar is he not? He could wear No.10 on his back! He's like Ederson.
"All night he's getting pressed, under pressure, sticky situations. He's just calm, collected. He can play long, he can play short.
"I loved watching the keeper tonight, he was fantastic."
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Onana kept an eighth clean sheet in the Champions League this season - more than any other goalkeeper who has played in the competition.
And Ferdinand added to Gerrard's praise of the Cameroonian, stating he would fit in at both City and Real because of the skillset he possesses.
"I agree with what Steven's saying. A modern day goalkeeper, he's top class. Takes the ball under pressure, doesn't panic. Brings the other team onto him to create space around him. They're going to need a big performance out of someone like him if they're going to win."
City and Real will slug it out in mouthwatering second leg clash at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday. The tie is level after Kevin De Bruyne cancelled out Vinicius Jr's thunderbolt with a stunning strike of his own.
Topics: Steven Gerrard, Rio Ferdinand, Michael Owen, Champions League, Inter Milan, Real Madrid, Manchester City